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The opening of the UK’s first cannabis clinic is certainly cause for cheer. The effort, backed by a growing UK powerhouse that includes European Cannabis Holdings, has just opened its first private cannabis clinic in the UK, with two more on the way, including one in London by the end of the year.

The clinic will see patients who can afford to pay, in other words those who are privately insured and not covered by the NHS. The clinics will also serve those with chronic illnesses including chronic pain and epilepsy.

This development will also undoubtedly begin to increase the number of actual legal British cannabis patients, which is significant in and of itself. That count now, close to five months after cannabis became technically available via Schedule II prescription last year, is a shocking four patients. This is not a typo.

Presumably, this means that patients who enter the market this way will also be able to access newly imported Dutch cannabis which has just started to enter the country in bulk. Not to mention be able to find pharmacies who stock the drug.

For the backers of ECH (which include SOL Global), these are strategic moves indeed, which also bode well for those who can afford access.

But does this herald a new shift in the way that cannabis will be prescribed for the mainstream in the UK if not across Europe? That is not so clear.

The History of Cannabis Clinics… In Israel and Beyond

From the medical side of the world, it has been cannabis specialty pain clinics that have moved the conversation forward and served patients in places like Israel. In the latter part of the last decade, Israel slowly began to liberalize access not via dispensaries, as in the American model, but rather via specialty pain clinics paid for by the government. It was only when patient attendance at such prescription and dispensation points became flooded by applicants that the government, just a few short years ago, began to allow regular doctors to prescribe the drug and regular pharmacies to carry it.

What does this say about a British market where reform has just come, and only four patients?There are currently various initiatives sprinkled around Europe- mostly in the form of collectives of doctors who try to help get their patients cannabinoid treatments. See, for example, Kalapa Clinic in Spain. Or the “self help” group of patients in Germany loosely associated with Dr. Grotenhermann (one of the country’s best-known cannabinoid doctors).

Yet in Germany, the first country in Europe to liberalize medical use, there are as yet no cannabis clinics of either the private or public kind (although there have also been several unsuccessful attempts to do just this since 2017 in cities like Berlin and Munich). Part of the reason for the failure of the model in Germany at least is due to the fact that while specialty doctors are needed to help guide patients through the complicated approvals process, the payment for the same from the insurance companies (even private insurers) is so low it is not yet economically feasible to set up a clinic based on this model.

That said, it is clearly an idea that has occurred to more than a few entities. In Germany, however, land of (at least) 40,000 patients, this model has yet to take off. What does this say about a British market where reform has just come, and only four patients? Even as early as spring 2017, when the German government changed the law mandating insurance coverage, there were 800 German patients in the system.

Why The UK Is Likely To Be Different

Image: Flickr

Cannabis patients may actually be some of the best situated patients to ride out the Brexit crisis that will hit all drugs. Why? From the start, the strange classification of the drug is requiring bespoke solutions for niche patients. While it may not be fair, this in turn will at least start to create a core group of medical users.

Creating at least that first critical mass is also unbelievably important for greater access and reform, if not speeding it on its way. And the backers of the new clinics are well aware that impetus on this front will not come from the much-beleaguered NHS but rather private initiatives like the ones now being launched in the UK.

Disclaimer: ECH is a sponsor of the MedPayRx go to market pilot trial.

According to a press release, last week GW Pharmaceuticals’ drug Epidiolex received a positive FDA panel review, which is an encouraging and important step towards getting the drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and on the market in the United States. Epidiolex is an anti-epilepsy drug, taken in a syrup form, with the main active ingredient being cannabidiol (CBD), and less than 0.1 % THC.

The drug is targeted to treat Dravet syndrome (DS) and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) a rare early-onset type of epilepsy found in children, according to Reuters. FDA staff said the drug “reduces seizure frequency in patients with drug-resistant LGS or DS while maintaining a predictable and manageable safety profile.”

GW Pharmaceuticals, founded in 1998 and based in London, is a biopharmaceutical company that has made headlines previously for developing cannabis-derived drugs. Sativex, one of the first drugs they developed, is derived from cannabis, but was not approved by the FDA. It is however available in other parts of the world, such as the EU, Israel and Canada.

If Epidiolex actually gets approval by the FDA, it will be the first-ever cannabis-derived drug available via prescription in all of the United States. According to Justin Gover, chief executive officer of GW Pharmaceuticals, this is a momentous breakthrough for the company. “We are pleased by the Advisory Committee’s unanimous recommendation to approve Epidiolex, which would provide an important treatment option for patients with LGS and Dravet syndrome, two of the most severe and treatment-resistant forms of epilepsy,” says Gover “This favorable outcome marks an important milestone in our company’s unwavering commitment to address the significant unmet need for patients with LGS and Dravet syndrome and our resolve to study Epidiolex under the highest research and manufacturing standards. We look forward to our ongoing discussions with the FDA as it continues to review the Epidiolex NDA.”

According to the GW press release, the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee of the FDA unanimously recommended supporting the approval of the New Drug Application (NDA) for the drug. That advisory committee is sort of like an independent panel; their unanimous vote doesn’t necessarily mean the drug will get approved, but the FDA takes their decision into consideration when approving new drugs. So this panel recommendation is certainly a good sign and shows this drug could potentially be on the path to FDA approval.

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